Shin Megami Tensei Strange Journey

Hardcore retro freaks only.

B-

Mar 31, 2010 10:58PM PST

Having only played the North American iterations in the Shin Megami Tensei line, I feel like 'Strange Journey' is a bit too deceptive for its own good. The game journeys back in time to the series' Japanese routes, and seems to stay there. The game makes no real effort to impress, it stays with an antiquated visual delivery that is as exciting as a slide show presentation. If it weren't for the intruiging premise of the game, with at least some competency in drawing you into the games scenario's, you might as well have just skipped the story sequences all together. Could they not have at least animated characters in the story sequences? They have no expression whatsoever.That aside, the actual gameplay sequences are what you would expect/want from a hardcore JRPG Dungeon crawler. I don't think any new audiences are going to find anything here. If you have experience playing old-school First Person RPG's like Wizardry, or Might and Magic, maybe you can break into the MegaTen franchise this way, but I honestly believe it requires the love of truly harcore MegaTen fans who actually crave playing what is essentially a retro sequel the way Mega Man 9 or 10 are to that franchise. The difference? THIS IS A FULL PRICED GAME! I payed $40 CAD for this game, and honestly I wouldn't have payed half of that if I knew what to expect. Last years Devil Survivor for the DS was a very modern iteration of the series, and I can't help but feel disappointed by the step back that has been made, not because I didn't enjoy myself in a nostalgic kind of way, but because I feel like the game is too retro to justify full price.